January was a particularly mild month around here, and folks are asking me if I got to ride the bike. I did – three different times! – and managed to put a little over 100 miles on it in a month when temps are normally in the teens. The next question always seems to be, “Doesn’t it piss you off to be teased like that?” Meaning, predictions are that Feb. will be closer to normal winter time weather. On the contrary, I’m not pissed at all. Those mild January days were a gift, and I for one took advantage of them as best I could. But I’m a realist: I know that February isn’t normally a month for motorcycles, so I don’t expect the whole winter season to just disappear simply because we got lucky a few times. Having the opportunity to ride in January was exhilirating, and I think I can now hunker back down for a month if necessary safe in the knowledge that the end of February is not too far away and that the next month – March – is Spring.

Speaking of February, Punxatawny Phil saw his shadow so according to the legend that means there’ll be six more weeks of winter. Which leads me to wonder: who comes up with this crap?? I can’t help but ask every year why we rely on a giant rodent to reaffirm what we already know: February is a winter month, and it’s always gonna be that way! I think this somehow constitutes cruelty to animals, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t PETA be involved? I mean we’re disturbing the natural hybernation cycle of an innocent animal for our own selfish purposes. Sure seems to me like someone should be standing by, ready to throw paint on those uppity Pennsylvanians who rattle Phil out of his slumber every Feb. 2. I would travel there and do it myself, but I’ve been busy teaching my Parakeet to predict the Lottery numbers. He hit the PowerBall number last week, so I figure it’s only a matter of time.